Barca agree £6m fee for Pique

devilish

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Taylor still looks a great prospect.

And yes, we should be careful about signing South Americans.

Carr and Babayaro were at the time just as good as Finnan and Riise.
FFS You compared Newcastle's defense with ours. Riise and Finnan has nothing to do with that post :angel:

I wont argue with you Boring as they say, Fighting on the internet is like racing in the Special Olympics - even if you win you would still be as good as Carr or Babayaro.....;)
 

CnutOfAllCnuts

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FFS You compared Newcastle's defense with ours. Riise and Finnan has nothing to do with that post :angel:

And Pls can you justify your 75% failure rate because as long as I know its certianly not the case.
You are extremely thick, aren't you? I was obviously comparing Newcastle to Liverpool in that thread.

75% fail rate justification:

At the time, 4 South Americans had played for us:

Veron
Forlan
Kleberson
Heinze

Now, work it out...
 

Donut

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Haha, what the feck? This thread is about Pique, a defender whom you described as one of the most promising one year ago, now you're saying you don't know what people see on him...

Cnut just pointed this out and then you started with some totally unreleted stuff about South Americans just to have a dig at him. To top it of now you are saying you won't fight and declaring yourself as a moral winner. A new low even for you I would say :houllier:.
 

CnutOfAllCnuts

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Haha, what the feck? This thread is about Pique, a defender whom you described as one of the most promising one year ago, now you're saying you don't know what people see on him...

Cnut just pointed this out and then you started with some totally unreleted stuff about South Americans just to have a dig at him. To top it of now you are saying you won't fight and declaring yourself as a moral winner. A new low even for you I would say :houllier:.
There's a reason for why the Malteser government is using Devilish in their national campaign for why people should use condoms.
 

devilish

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Haha, what the feck? This thread is about Pique, a defender whom you described as one of the most promising one year ago, now you're saying you don't know what people see on him...

Cnut just pointed this out and then you started with some totally unreleted stuff about South Americans just to have a dig at him. To top it of now you are saying you won't fight and declaring yourself as a moral winner. A new low even for you I would say :houllier:.
If you read my first posts in this thread I acknowledge what Ive said in the past and I gave reasons why Ive changed my mind. I guess that you didnt mind reading my posts then.

I wont lose any more time with you Mr Donut. As Ive said before, arguing on the internet is for retards and 'good players' such as Babayaro and Carr.:)
 

CnutOfAllCnuts

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I wont lose any more time with you Mr Donut. As ive said before arguing on the internet is for retards and 'good players' such as Babayaro and Carr.:)
Coming from someone who has had more arguments on the internet than sexual intercourses.
 

MrMarcello

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Ferdinand's same age as me - 30 this year.

I reckon he'll go on to about 33, barring injury.
Maybe Evans will be ready by then, unless he goes elsewhere like recent prodigies. Perhaps the Richards rumors have a bit of substance to them. Could it be SAF views him as the perfect successor to Rio?
 

MrMarcello

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Quote:
Originally Posted by brophs
No he doesn't. While it's an important part of his game, the most crucial thing Rio has is his ability to read the game, that means that he is forced to use his pace far less than most players.

Nah, what sets Rio apart from other players is his pace. Gets himself and other players out of trouble.
But he rarely has to use that pace because his positioning and reading of the game is so incredible he's rarely out of position. And you're right about the pace part - when he does get caught out he can quickly get back in (case in point the CL final and that moment of madness near the box where Rio slipped up and still managed to get back in the box and thwart a potential scoring chance).
 

ronnie dazzler

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Maybe Evans will be ready by then, unless he goes elsewhere like recent prodigies. Perhaps the Richards rumors have a bit of substance to them. Could it be SAF views him as the perfect successor to Rio?
of all the rumours, if Richards was available and could be bought for 20m, I think SAF would buy him. A fantastic prospect and could be played at RB for a few seasons
 

relx

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Pique letter of thanks (from manutd.com)


Gerard Pique this week agreed to join former club Barcelona, but before he left he asked ManUtd.com to publish a letter of thanks to the club, staff and fans...

I didn't want to say goodbye without thanking all the club personnel, including the football equipment manager, masseuses, secretaries, coaches, and especially my team mates, who have always treated me well and played a vital role in my development, both as a football player and more importantly, on a personal level.

Obviously I would have liked to play more this season, but I must say that despite some difficult decisions, the manager has always treated me in an exceptional manner, for which I am extremely grateful.

I am leaving with some very special memories: scoring a Champions League goal at Old Trafford, beating Arsenal in April on the way to winning the title and, most of all, the experience of being part of this fantastic group that won the Premier League and Champions League Double.


Finally, a special thanks to the fans for their warmth and support. I would like them to know that I will always carry United in my heart and I hope that they understand my decision to go back to my home club, FC Barcelona.

Thank you all and I hope to see you in the Champions League final next season.


Sheer class. All the best Gerard.
Nostradamus
 

Sylar

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He was fantastic (handball aside). He was brilliant against Madrid as well. Classy defender. And his cross field balls to Alves on so many occasions were just pinpoint.
 

Average Joe

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hurts to say it but twas a good move for him. i really like this guy. hope he does well.

hope he has a mare in the final mind you.
 

Ekeke

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He's like Carrick playing in defence, with some aerial dominance. Not (yet) one of the best defenders, but he brings so much to his team.

And also credit to him for having the character to come forward and try and make things happen near the end of the game when Barcelona looked like going out. He was forcing things and I'm sure that played a part in the outcome. He's done that a bunch of times this season by the way when Barcelona have needed a goal and despite not often being directly responsible for getting goals, its always been pretty effective for the team and he's come close to grabbing goals at vital times, a few times.
 

Sir A1ex

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He was the one highlight from Barca last night, along with maybe Iniesta.
I know it was impossible, but I wonder if they'd both been given the chance, who would have progressed at United out of him and Evans?
 

Москва2008

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Best Spanish footballer to ever play in England (and best ever footballer called Ger(r)ard)

Worked out well for him and United as Evans has really come on this year.
 

Sir A1ex

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How much did he eventually go for? Can't be 6 million surely? Barcelona got themselves a great deal if thats the case.
My initial thought is that £6m is as much as anybody could be expected to pay for one so young and inexperienced, and barca took a gamble which looks to be paying off. But then I look at how much we pay for people like Nani and Anderson, and maybe they did get him on the cheap.
 

Anduin

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I know it was impossible, but I wonder if they'd both been given the chance, who would have progressed at United out of him and Evans?
Given an equal chance, I'd say both. For me they are the best central defenders in Europe at their age, you rarely see (young) centre-backs this composed and calm in the biggest leagues of the world. Both have a bright future and I can just wish Pique the very best, Champions League final aside ;)
 

Keano1999

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My initial thought is that £6m is as much as anybody could be expected to pay for one so young and inexperienced, and barca took a gamble which looks to be paying off. But then I look at how much we pay for people like Nani and Anderson, and maybe they did get him on the cheap.
Barcelona knew all about Pique and his potential having provided his initial training. I think his fee could've been higher but since he was going back to Barcelona we probably let him go cheaper.
 

Cling Bak

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Great business by Barca.

We got butt-fecked again in the transfer market. Always liked Pique.
He was a fringe player for us. Barely 3rd or 4th choice centre-back and very inexperienced. He had a year left on his contract as well and one so young it wasn't too bad. We have a better young defender than him anyway, Pique was barely going to get chances.
 

Ekeke

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He was a fringe player for us. Barely 3rd or 4th choice centre-back and very inexperienced. He had a year left on his contract as well and one so young it wasn't too bad. We have a better young defender than him anyway, Pique was barely going to get chances.
Pique was ahead in the pecking order, there's no doubt about that. He'd have got chances.

He also wasnt that inexperienced. Maybe in the premiership, but he'd played first team football on loan in La Liga too and impressed. So especially considering we sold him to a Spanish side, inexperience shouldnt have made his price lower... Experience in la liga and impressing should have made the price higher if anything.
 

Ekeke

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This ! Nice lad, very decent lad, but I don't think he's great either. Evans is twice the player
How? He's a better defender for sure. But as a player Pique is far more than an out and out defender. He could quite easily become the best ball-playing defender in the world. Will his actual defending ever equal that? Probably not. But he could come close.

If you were setting up to defend for 90 minutes you'd choose Evans over him for sure. But defending is about a third of Pique's game. He's also a good threat from set pieces and he can start attacking moves from the middle of defence.